And this year I’m participating, once again, in a project called Passports with Purpose: an ever-expanding group of travel bloggers who band together to raise funds for a great cause.

In 2010 the group raised more than $64,000 to build a village in India to improve lives of the Dalit (untouchable) population in India.

In 2009, almost $30,000 was raised to build a school in rural Cambodia (complete with a school nurse).

This year, the goal is to raise$80,000 to build two libraries for children in Zambia, through a partnership with Room To Read.

Contributions to the project are tax-deductible, but each $10 you kick in gets you an entry in a prize drawing for some incredibly cool and useful items; everything from hotel stays and airline tickets to electronics and travel gear.

I asked the folks at Minimus.biz to be my “prize partner” again this year.

So if you donate to the Passports with Purpose project, be sure to enter to win the Minimus.biz surprise box which is chock-full of at about $100 worth of essential, curious, luxury and really fun, travel-sized items.
(If that prize isn’t on the list yet, it will be shortly…)

Minimus.biz stocks travel-sized items in every category you can think of: food and beverage, household, pharmacy, cosmetics, toys & games, travel and survival. The first time I checked out the site I was looking for TSA-friendly hair care products, but I found a whole section of single-serving food products, travel-sized rolls of duct tape, toilet paper and seat covers, emergency supplies, a specialty boutique and themed kits like this one for germophobes.

Your donation of just $10 can really help. So please take a look at the project site and join me in making this year’s Passports with Purpose project a success.